At Cleveland Clinic, caring for the communities we call home has always been among the most important things we do. The arrival of COVID-19 in 2020 further heightened our obligation — and our resolve — to help our neighbors. The pandemic posed unprecedented challenges, both for our healthcare system and for those who count on us. As caregivers, we made a commitment that we would get through the crisis together. Like a family, we faced the tough times by making mutual sacrifices and managing our resources so that we could continue to meet others’ needs.
During this most difficult year in our century-long history, the Cleveland Clinic health system provided $1.31 billion in community benefit — the highest level we have ever reported.
View 2020 Community Benefit Report
Our traditional contributions to our communities’ wellbeing include providing free or discounted medically necessary care and clinical services, working to improve public health, educating medical professional and conducting research to fight disease. In addition, we undertook numerous special initiatives in 2020 to lessen COVID-19’s impact. Those efforts carried a significant cost to the organization — more than $100 million in in uncompensated COVID-related expenses — but they were the right thing to do for the communities we serve. They are an investment in our shared future. As Cleveland Clinic begins its second century, we rededicate ourselves to the betterment of the people and places that are our lifetime partners in good health.
The Community Benefit provided by Cleveland Clinic is far-reaching, from providing accessible healthcare, to educating the next generation of healthcare professionals, funding medical research that leads to advanced treatments and cures, and supporting community health initiatives.
We joined with businesses and community partners to donate Thanksgiving meals to 2,000 neighbors in the Fairfax and Hough communities surrounding our main campus. The COVID-19 pandemic drove a dramatic spike in food insecurity across the country. We joined the Greater Cleveland Food Bank in helping community members feed their families. Residents of East Cleveland neighborhoods receive produce and dairy products at Cleveland Clinic’s Stephanie Tubbs Jones Health Center. We and University Hospitals partnered to create a free drive-through testing facility in the garage of the jointly owned W.O. Walker Building in Cleveland’s University Circle. Inside Cleveland Clinic Florida’s Research and Innovation Center, a special biosafety lab lets researchers safely study harmful viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 to speed the search for new treatments and vaccines. Our caregivers worked with Meijer stores and Morrison Healthcare to donate and distribute meals to 2,000 residents in Cleveland’s Hough and Fairfax neighborhoods for Thanksgiving 2020. Our patient transporters help patients travel from their homes to clinical facilities for a variety of treatments, diagnostics and therapies. At our Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, a mixed martial arts fighter has his balance assessed as part of the Professional Athletes Brain Health Study. The project’s researchers are examining the cumulative effects of repeated head impacts. Their findings could help guide new policies and practices to protect athletes, military members and others.
Community Health Needs Assessment Reports
The Cleveland Clinic health system completed comprehensive community health needs assessments (CHNAs), which included all communities surrounding the system’s hospitals and family health centers. The goals of these assessments were to identify and evaluate health-related needs in the communities Cleveland Clinic serves and to use this information to fulfill our mission.
